All About Health

This latest one comes from HealthGrades, whose website said it is “America’s most trusted, independent source of physician information and hospital quality outcomes. HealthGrades’ online properties are the nation’s leading destination for physician search and empower more than 100 million consumers annually to make informed health care decisions.”

Really. Shall we take their word for it?

Last week, another grading outfit called CareChex, which calls itself “the most comprehensive site for rating hospital care,” released data about hospital performance.

Would you be surprised if one presented info one way and the other did it differently?

New York state and the federal government through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regularly release quality data.

You may think they’re all bunk if you had a bad experience at what some rating system says is the best in town. And if your hospital isn’t listed as the best for a procedure, that doesn’t mean it’s bad. All it means is it didn’t make this particular list.

Hospitals will be touting their quality measures because under health reform, they’ll get reimbursed on well they do procedures, not how often those procedures get done.

Which could mean more of these rating services pop up. Hospitals will say, ”Look, Quality Score A rates us No. 1 in treating heart attack.” But it won’t say it was last in pneumonia, which may be your ailment.

What should you do? Sometimes you may not have a choice in hospitals, and then it helps to have a family member or friend by your side, advocating every step of the way. When you can choose, check quality data from the state and feds, realize that it lags months if not years and if you are concerned about something, ask what’s been done to correct the problem. Then tell your doctor and your friends, the rating system that most people are likely to check.

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About this blog

Patti Singer

Health Reporter

Being healthy means that you’ll be in good shape if you get sick. That may sound odd, but think about it. We may not be able to prevent every illness, but if we can delay it, minimize it and recover quickly, we can get back to our lives. That’s the beauty of a healthy lifestyle – what I call wellness insurance.

I’m fascinated by how we define health and what we do to achieve and keep that physical, emotional and spiritual sense.

I used to be a sports writer. I joined the Democrat and Chronicle in 1985 to write about the Rochester Red Wings and wouldn’t trade that experience for an infinite number of first-round draft choices. I moved from sports to features in 1991, and wrote about personal health, travel and general topics. I joined the metro staff in July 2009 to focus on health.

I am certified as a personal trainer and I earned a master’s degree in education from The College at Brockport, where I teach an undergrad course in contemporary health issues and a grad course in health communication.